Pa‘al Paradigms — Present, Past, Future
Your first full verb tables: לכתוב “to write” in all persons, with patterns you can reuse.
Pa'al (פָּעַל) is the most common Hebrew binyan. If you learn one verb fully, you can conjugate hundreds. This article gives the complete present, past, and future paradigms for לִכְתּוֹב (likhtov, "to write"), plus the patterns you can reuse for any regular Pa'al verb.
The infinitive
Every verb has an infinitive form starting with לְ־ (le-, "to"):
| Infinitive | Root | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| לִכְתּוֹב (likhtov) | כ.ת.ב | to write |
| לִקְרוֹא (likro) | ק.ר.א | to read |
| לֶאֱכוֹל (le'ekhol) | א.כ.ל | to eat |
| לִשְׁתּוֹת (lishtot) | ש.ת.ה | to drink |
Present tense (active participle)
The present tense in Hebrew is really a set of participles (adjective-like forms). It has four forms: masculine singular, feminine singular, masculine plural, feminine plural.
לִכְתּוֹב — present tense
| Person / Number | Hebrew | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| m. sg. | כּוֹתֵב | kotev | writes / is writing |
| f. sg. | כּוֹתֶבֶת | kotevet | writes / is writing |
| m. pl. | כּוֹתְבִים | kotvim | write / are writing |
| f. pl. | כּוֹתְבוֹת | kotvot | write / are writing |
💡 Pattern: Masculine singular = קוֹטֵל (kotel). Feminine singular adds ־ֶת (-et). Masculine plural adds ־ִים (-im). Feminine plural adds ־וֹת (-ot).
Example sentences
| Hebrew | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| הַתַּלְמִיד כּוֹתֵב. | ha-talmid kotev. | The student writes. |
| הַתַּלְמִידָה כּוֹתֶבֶת. | ha-talmida kotevet. | The student (f.) writes. |
| הַתַּלְמִידִים כּוֹתְבִים. | ha-talmidim kotvim. | The students write. |
| הַתַּלְמִידוֹת כּוֹתְבוֹת. | ha-talmidot kotvot. | The students (f.) write. |
Past tense
The past tense uses suffixes to show person, gender, and number.
לִכְתּוֹב — past tense
| Person | Hebrew | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st sg. (I) | כָּתַבְתִּי | katavti | I wrote |
| 2nd m. sg. (you) | כָּתַבְתָּ | katavta | you wrote |
| 2nd f. sg. (you) | כָּתַבְתְּ | katavt | you wrote |
| 3rd m. sg. (he) | כָּתַב | katav | he wrote |
| 3rd f. sg. (she) | כָּתְבָה | katva | she wrote |
| 1st pl. (we) | כָּתַבְנוּ | katavnu | we wrote |
| 2nd m. pl. (you) | כְּתַבְתֶּם | ktavtem | you (m./mixed) wrote |
| 2nd f. pl. (you) | כְּתַבְתֶּן | ktavten | you (f.) wrote |
| 3rd m. pl. (they) | כָּתְבוּ | katvu | they (m./mixed) wrote |
| 3rd f. pl. (they) | כָּתְבוּ | katvu | they (f.) wrote |
⚠️ Note: The 3rd person plural is the same for masculine and feminine in Modern Hebrew: כָּתְבוּ (katvu).
Future tense
The future tense uses prefixes and sometimes suffixes.
לִכְתּוֹב — future tense
| Person | Hebrew | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st sg. (I) | אֶכְתּוֹב | ekhtov | I will write |
| 2nd m. sg. (you) | תִּכְתּוֹב | tikhtov | you (m.) will write |
| 2nd f. sg. (you) | תִּכְתְּבִי | tikhtevi | you (f.) will write |
| 3rd m. sg. (he) | יִכְתּוֹב | yikhtov | he will write |
| 3rd f. sg. (she) | תִּכְתּוֹב | tikhtov | she will write |
| 1st pl. (we) | נִכְתּוֹב | nikhtov | we will write |
| 2nd m. pl. (you) | תִּכְתְּבוּ | tikhtevu | you (m./mixed) will write |
| 2nd f. pl. (you) | תִּכְתֵּבְנָה | tikhtevna | you (f.) will write |
| 3rd m. pl. (they) | יִכְתְּבוּ | yikhtevu | they (m./mixed) will write |
| 3rd f. pl. (they) | תִּכְתֵּבְנָה | tikhtevna | they (f.) will write |
Future prefixes
| Prefix | Person |
|---|---|
| אֲ... | I (1st sg.) |
| תִּ... | you (2nd sg. m. / she / we? no — see below) |
| יִ... | he / they (m.) |
| נִ... | we |
| תִּ... | you sg. f., you pl., she, they f. |
💡 Memory trick: א = I, נ = we, י = he/they-m, ת = you/she/they-f. The feminine plural and 2nd person plural often add a suffix: ־וּ (-u) or ־נָה (-na).
Reusing the pattern
Once you know לִכְתּוֹב, you can conjugate any regular Pa'al verb by swapping the root consonants:
| Root | Infinitive | Past 3m.sg. | Present m.sg. | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ק.ר.א | לִקְרוֹא | קָרָא | קוֹרֵא | to read / reads |
| א.כ.ל | לֶאֱכוֹל | אָכַל | אוֹכֵל | to eat / eats |
| ש.ת.ה | לִשְׁתּוֹת | שָׁתָה | שׁוֹתֶה | to drink / drinks |
✅ Key takeaways
- Pa'al is the simple active binyan and the most common.
- Present tense has 4 forms (m./f. × sg./pl.) built on the pattern קוֹטֵל.
- Past tense adds suffixes to the pattern קָטַל.
- Future tense adds prefixes (א, ת, י, נ) and sometimes suffixes.
- Learn לִכְתּוֹב thoroughly; the same pattern applies to most regular Pa'al verbs.
✏️ Practice
- Conjugate "I write" in the present and future.
- What is the feminine plural present of כּוֹתֵב?
- Give the 3rd person masculine singular past of לִקְרוֹא.
- Which future prefix means "we"?
- Translate: הַיְלָדִים יִכְתְּבוּ מַכְתָּב.
Answers
- Present: אֲנִי כּוֹתֵב (m. speaker) / כּוֹתֶבֶת (f. speaker). Future: אֶכְתּוֹב.
- כּוֹתְבוֹת (kotvot).
- קָרָא (kara).
- נִ (ni-).
- "The children will write a letter."